Sign-In
Cart
Power Chords
Paperback
ISBN13: 9781836154334
Publisher: Grosvenor House Publishing Limited
Published: Nov 24 2025
Pages: 228
Weight: 0.51
Height: 0.52 Width: 5.00 Depth: 8.00
Language: English
Power Chords is 'a life set to music. Beautifully told'. Specifically the lived experience of punk. How it changed people. Why it changed people. Why a 'new wave' of protest art was necessary then - in 1976 - and why it is necessary now. (Hmmm. Because Trump and the mad-bad populists, because austerity, because the staggering and immoral disparity in wealth distribution?)
This is the story of the energy that is anger changing a life. Anger and political/philosophical awakening. The kind of thing that happens when you're a teenager and when things look outrageously bad. It's personal, mischievous, serious, articulate and maybe a little wild. The writer thinks he's Elvis Costello. The writer thinks he's Sigmund Freud. The book surges everywhere - it's funny, daft, authoritative and fearlessly behind what's good.
What I'm getting at is I can't think of a more vital time for music (& young people) to discover or re-discover their conscience & their agency.
There is an appreciation of the central figures of British New Wave - Lydon; Costello; Weller; Strummer; Mark E Smith - and how it felt to be a Buzzcock or a Bunnyman. There is a notable dismemberment of Thatcher. Mostly there is a real love for and understanding of the music.
1976 to about 1980 was special. The author is wise and fair enough to try to place it in the wider context of wonderful and seminal protest music but he passionately and compellingly argues the Case for Punk... and the need for Punk 2, now.
Also from
Walton, Rick
Where are Zebra's Stripes?: Little Tracker Safari Series (Large Print Edition)
Walton, Rick
Paperback
Also in
Punk
Smash!: Green Day, the Offspring, Bad Religion, Nofx, and the '90s Punk Explosion
Winwood, Ian
Hardcover
Emo Revival: Community, Diy, and Rebirth in Post-Hardcore and Emo (2008-2018)
Sacher, Andrew
Paperback
Punk in 50 Pieces: Punk Rock, Post-Punk, New Wave, and the Five Years That Changed Pop Music Forever
Dettmar, Kevin
Hardcover
Where Are Your Boys Tonight?: The Oral History of Emo's Mainstream Explosion 1999-2008
Payne, Chris
Paperback
Burning Down the House: Talking Heads and the New York Scene That Transformed Rock
Gould, Jonathan
Hardcover
Fenway Punk: How a Boston Indie Label Scored Big on Baseball's Greatest Rivalry
Wrenn, Chris
Hardcover
Sellout: The Major-Label Feeding Frenzy That Swept Punk, Emo, and Hardcore (1994-2007)
Ozzi, Dan
Paperback
More Punk Than the Public Library: The Adventures of a Little Free Punk Rock Bookstore
Bennett, J. Hunter
Paperback
Fucked Up + Photocopied: Instant Art of the Punk Rock Movement: 25th Anniversary Edition
Turcotte, Bryan Ray
Miller, Christopher T.
Hardcover
Tearing Down the Orange Curtain: How Punk Rock Brought Orange County to the World
Jackson, Nate
Kohn, Daniel
Hardcover
Resident Punk: How I Smoked, Drank, and Stumbled My Way Through the '70s Punk Scene (and Beyond)
McNeil, Legs
Hardcover
Revenge of the She-Punks: A Feminist Music History from Poly Styrene to Pussy Riot
Goldman, Vivien
Paperback
Gimme Something Better: The Profound, Progressive, and Occasionally Pointless History of Bay Area Punk from Dead Kennedys to Green Day
Tudor, Silke
Boulware, Jack
Paperback
Upside Down Punks: The Strange But True Story of That Fugazi Basketball Hoop Show
Bennett, J. Hunter
Paperback
Disco's Out...Murder's In!: The True Story of Frank the Shank and L.A.'s Deadliest Punk Rock Gang
Spacone, David
Mattioli, Heath
Paperback
Too Much Too Young, the 2 Tone Records Story: Rude Boys, Racism, and the Soundtrack of a Generation
Rachel, Daniel
Hardcover
Lexicon Devil: The Fast Times and Short Life of Darby Crash and the Germs
Parfrey, Adam
Mullen, Brendan
Bolles, Don
Paperback
Can I Say: Living Large, Cheating Death, and Drums, Drums, Drums
Barker, Travis
Edwards, Gavin
Paperback
The Only Music That Mattered: A Guide to Punk, Post-Punk and Second Wave Ska, 1976-1983
Zukowski, John A.
Paperback
Cook Your Own Fucking Life: Vegan Comfort Food Recipes to Feed Yourself and Build Community
Palafox, Ashley Rowe
Paperback
We're Not Here to Entertain: Punk Rock, Ronald Reagan, and the Real Culture War of 1980s America
Mattson, Kevin
Hardcover
Acme Boy: The Birth of Punk & Anti-Fashion 1975 - 1985...and Other Twisted, True Stories from Pre-Internet Counterculture
Strongman, Phil
Paperback
Johnny Thunders: In Cold Blood: The Official Biography: Revised & Updated Edition
Antonia, Nina
Paperback
Tenement Kid: From the Streets of Glasgow in the 1960s to Drummer in Jesus and Mary Chain and Frontman in Primal Scream
Gillespie, Bobby
Paperback
Complicated Fun: The Birth of Minneapolis Punk and Indie Rock, 1974-1984 --- An Oral History
Collins, Cyn
Paperback
Born of Struggle, Living in Hope: The Anarcho-Punk Lives of the Centro Iberico, 1971-1983
Soulsby, Nick
Paperback
MDC: Memoir from a Damaged Civilization: Stories of Punk, Fear, and Redemption
Dictor, Dave
Paperback
Fall Through: A Punk Music LGBTQ+ Love Story by National Book Award-Winning Graphic Novelist Nate Powell
Powell, Nate
Hardcover
Patti Smith Collected Lyrics, 1970-2015: Lyrics, Reflections & Notes for the Future
Smith, Patti
Paperback
Punk and Disorderly: Acting Out Gender and Class in First-Wave British Punk
Fournier, Karen
Paperback
Mc5: An Oral Biography of Rock's Most Revolutionary Band
Uhelszki, Jaan
Edmonds, Ben
Tolinski, Brad
Hardcover